This view of the play area at Roxhill Park shows the plan for the site.

Roxhill Park Playground seeking volunteers to help rebuild

By Patrick Robinson

10/11/2012

The Roxhill Park playground, also known as the "Roxhill Castle" was originally built by the community back in 1994. The playground equipment has been removed as part of the playground and skatespot construction project now underway there at the corner of SW Barton St and 29th Ave SW.

The Seattle Parks department agreed to rebuild the park in the same fashion and style as the original, using the same contractor. In return, the community pledged to provide the labor. By labor they mean people who can literally help build and install the playground equipment set for the space.

What, exactly, can I do to help? There are several ways to get involved:

Good old-fashioned labor.
The build dates are Friday, November 2nd through Tuesday, November 6th. Each day there will be three shifts, 8am-Noon, 12:30-4:30, and 5:00 until whenever we quit for the night. You can sign up for as many shifts and/or days as you like. Each shift, there will be 7 teams of ten workers. You can build your own team (tell your friends!), talk to your employer about day of service opportunities, or come solo and meet other awesome people who are cool like you. Important Caveat – this is a construction zone. Adults 18 and over may work unsupervised, and youths 14-17 may work in teams of three when mentored by an adult. Youths 13 and under may not participate.

Food!
Seventy volunteers per day! Working hard! Constructing! Building dreams! It’s hungry work. There are opportunities to provide nourishing breakfast, lunch, and snacks to these good, civic-minded folks. Are you, or do you know of a good civic-minded restaurant? Are you a really good cook? Or, do you just really Love snack time? This may be a good fit for you.

Tools and Miscellany!
This project will require tools and some materials (things like shovels and paint, a full list will be available shortly). Any tools bought for the project and not desired returned will be donated to the West Seattle Tool Library at end of project. Lastly, there are three staff from Leathers and Associates who are traveling from New York to oversee the project. They need a place to stay. It’s like exchange students, only more in a park building kind of way.

The Parks Department cautioned that without enough volunteers, this project will be cancelled.

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